Combinatorial sputtering of Ga-doped (Zn,Mg)O for contact applications in solar cells

Rajbhandari, Pravakar P.; Bikowski, Andre; Perkins, John D.; Dhakal, Tara P.; Zakutayev, Andriy

doi:10.1016/j.solmat.2016.09.003

Combinatorial sputtering of Ga-doped (Zn,Mg)O for contact applications in solar cells

Journal Article · Tue Sep 20 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2016.09.003· OSTI ID:1326897

Rajbhandari, Pravakar P. ^[1]; Bikowski, Andre ^[2]; Perkins, John D. ^[2]; Dhakal, Tara P. ^[3]; Zakutayev, Andriy ^[2]

National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); State Univ. of New York at Binghamton, Binghamton, NY (United States)
National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
State Univ. of New York at Binghamton, Binghamton, NY (United States)

In this study, the development of tunable contact materials based on environmentally friendly chemical elements using scalable deposition approaches is necessary for existing and emerging solar energy conversion technologies. In this paper, the properties of ZnO alloyed with magnesium (Mg), and doped with gallium (Ga) are studied using combinatorial thin film experiments. As a result of these studies, the optical band gap of the sputtered Zn_1-xMg_xO thin films was determined to vary from 3.3 to 3.6 eV for a compositional spread of Mg content in the 0.04 < x < 0.17 range. Depending on whether or not Ga dopants were added, the electron concentrations were on the order of 10¹⁷ cm^-3 or 10²⁰ cm^-3, respectively. Based on these results and on the Kelvin Probe work function measurements, a band diagram was derived using basic semiconductor physics equations. The quantitative determination of how the energy levels of Ga-doped (Zn, Mg)O thin films change as a function of Mg composition presented here, will facilitate their use as optimized contact layers for both Cu₂ZnSnS₄ (CZTS), Cu(In, Ga)Se₂ (CIGS) and other solar cell absorbers.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE; USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Solar Energy Technologies Office (EE-4S)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308

OSTI ID:: 1326897

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1359881

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA--5K00-66843

Journal Information:: Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Journal Name: Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells Journal Issue: C Vol. 159; ISSN 0927-0248

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Combinatorial sputtering of Ga-doped (Zn,Mg)O for contact applications in solar cells

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